Demnok Lannik the Warlock is a rangedintelligencehero who possesses many powerful teamfight spells capable of inflicting chaos upon the enemy team. Shadow Word is a highly versatile spell, as it allows him to support allies by healing them or harass enemies by dealing damage over time, giving him strong lane presence. Beyond the early game, Warlock can turn any teamfight in his team's favor as his other spells are strong when unleashed against multiple enemies. Fatal Bonds causes all enemies linked together to take bonus damage when one of their number takes damage, magnifying the strength of area-of-effect spells, while Upheaval can allow him to greatly slow any enemies caught in the radius of the spell, making it harder for them to maneuver in fights or escape. His ultimate, Chaotic Offering, summons a Golem after stunning all enemies in a wide area, allowing him to throw them into disarray. While unassuming and weak by himself, Warlock is a dangerous threat in any teamfight as his spells allow him to turn the enemies' numbers against them and sow chaos amongst their ranks.

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As Chief Curator and Head of Acquisitions for the Arcane Archives of the Ultimyr Academy, Demnok Lannik was tireless in his pursuit of lost, rare and forbidden tomes. No cursed temple was so foreboding, no cavern path so treacherous, that any concern for his own survival could dissuade him from entering if rumors hinted that some pamphlet of primordial lore might still survive in its depths. However, so often did his investigations trigger the wrath of protector entities, that he finally found it necessary to master the arts of magic. He bent himself to learning sorcery with the same thorough obsessiveness that marked his quest for incunabula, becoming the most powerful Warlock of the Academy in less time than most practitioners required to complete a course of undergraduate work. Almost as an afterthought, he carved a staff of Dreadwood and summoned into it a captive spirit from the Outer Hells. And anticipating the day when he will have recovered every last lost spellbook, he has commenced writing his own Black Grimoire. It will undoubtedly be instructive.

Healing Salve is generally required in most starting item builds, in order to allow players to stay in lane despite harass damage from the enemy. Shadow Word can replace the utility of Tango during the laning stage for replenishing small amounts of HP.

Clarity is recommended in order to take advantage of Warlock's powerful utility spells when they are needed. A Clarity can guarantee at least one more additional cast of Shadow Word or any of your other spells.

Ring of Protection is helpful for protecting Warlock against enemy harass damage, and allows you to build a Ring of Basilius from the Side Lane Shop.

Iron Branch should be used to fill out the rest of your inventory, as they are cheap and the attributes they provide can be very useful in the early game. They can be used to complete a Magic Wand, or build Mekansm components.

Early-game items:

Magic Stick is recommended for most heroes. In Warlock's case, his low base strength means that he is relatively easy to kill in the early game, so having the ability to instantly heal yourself for 150 HP is very helpful. The 150 MP also allows you to cast at least one more spell in a teamfight if your mana is low.

Boots of Speed are important on any support. In Warlock's case, the flexibility of Shadow Word means that positioning yourself quickly to cast it on an ally or enemy can help to secure a kill on the enemy or save an ally from death.

Ring of Basilius is useful for providing armor and mana regen during the laning stage, which aids in survivability and replenishing mana for casting Shadow Word, as well as pushing a lane if needed by turning the aura on. It is best disassembled and the components recycled for use in other items, however, as Warlock's high base intelligence as well as growth ensure that a Sage's Mask is more effective early on due to its percentage-based regen bonus.

Core items:

Magic Wand provides all the benefits of a Magic Stick, as well as additional stats to increase your survivability. Using stored charges can give Warlock enough mana to cast almost any spell in his arsenal, and can often be enough to cast your ultimate if you're low.

Arcane Boots are important in aiding Warlock's ability to support his team, on top of replenishing his own mana pool so that he can continue using his spells. As he can already heal his teammates with Shadow Word, replenishing their mana as well as Warlock's ensures that your team is ready to fight at any time, or that your carry can continue farming without having to return to base as often.

Aghanim's Scepter should be considered a luxury item if playing a hard support role, but it is also one of the most powerful items that Warlock can purchase, especially when given farm priority. The ability to summon two Golems with Chaotic Offering can inflict significantly more damage against the enemy as neither Permanent Immolation or Flaming Fists have their effectiveness reduced.

Due to Warlock's flexible nature and powerful spells, a Town Portal Scroll should always be on hand should it be needed. Warlock's ability to heal teammates in emergency situations and disrupt the enemy formation with his spells should never be discounted.

Situational items:

Refresher Orb is a very powerful luxury item in that it allows Warlock to use his ultimate twice, whether it has been upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter or not, as well as double-stack Fatal Bonds since repeated casts will work independently rather than refresh its duration. While it provides immense mana regen to allow more frequent use of spells, priority should be given to increasing the size of Warlock's mana pool should this be purchased, as his ultimate and Refresher Orb's active can cost a total of up to 1175 mana, to say nothing of his other abilities.

Scythe of Vyse gives Warlock a much larger mana pool as well as regeneration, and shores up his other stats as well. Its Hex ability allows Warlock to instantly disable an enemy from range, greatly increasing his teamfight potential.

Shiva's Guard gives Warlock immense survivability against physical attacks, and increases his intelligence dramatically as well, providing a much larger mana pool and more base damage. The auras allow him to contribute more in teamfights by reducing enemy attack and movement speed, giving him more crowd control, reducing enemies' attack speed, and giving him an additional slow on top of Upheaval, which does not have to be channeled and can help his Golem to chase opponents.

Necronomicon gives Warlock additional strength and intelligence, giving him HP and mana, as well as the ability to summon Necronomicon Warriors to a teamfight, synergizing well with Chaotic Offering. The minions greatly add to Warlock's teamfight contribution as they can be controlled while Warlock himself is channeling Upheaval.

Drum of Endurance can be easily upgraded from Bracer, and gives Warlock all-around additional stats. The aura gives Warlock more teamfight contribution, and the active can give his Golem more mobility and damage output.

Pipe of Insight is a powerful support item that gives Warlock another tool with which to protect his teammates. The item's active ability can shield allies from magical damage for a short period of time, enough to blunt their initial wave of magic nukes.

Mekansm is another powerful support item that synergizes well with Shadow Word, allowing Warlock to heal teammates and keep them in the fight. The all-around attributes and armor help make Warlock less squishy, and his high intelligence growth ensures that he can easily afford the mana cost of the active.

Veil of Discord is a useful utility item that boosts Warlock's stats across the board, gives him a large amount of bonus intelligence, and gives him more armor. As Fatal Bonds already amplifies the power of area-of-effect magic nukes that hit multiple targets, increasing that further by reducing enemies' magic resistance can greatly increase the amount of damage dealt.

Octarine Core can be very strong on Warlock in the late game, as it can reduce the cooldown time on his spammable spells and allow him to have his ultimate available on a more regular basis. As well, Warlock can lifesteal from Fatal Bonds damage and an offensively cast Shadow Word, increasing his survivability in fights.

Guardian Greaves is a useful late-game upgrade to Mekansm and Arcane Boots, giving Warlock strong teamfight contribution as well as opening up an inventory slot. The self-dispel allows Warlock to remove debuffs from himself, such as silences that are preventing him from casting his spells.

Urn of Shadows synergizes well with Shadow Word, as it performs many of the same roles and augments Warlock's flexibility further. It is a strong utility item to build if you do not intend on buying a Bracer, as the strength and mana regen benefit Warlock greatly.

Medallion of Courage, and its upgrade Solar Crest, have a myriad of uses for Warlock. As a ranged support he can use it to assist his carry from a distance either by placing the debuff on an enemy or by placing the buff on an ally. The same can be applied to the Golem, either to extend its survivability or weaken its target. Finally, it can be used on Roshan to help your team kill him faster.

Force Staff is a good utility item on any support hero, and is no exception for Warlock. It can allow Warlock to get in position to cast his spells, and has utility in re-positioning teammates as well as displacing enemies, and can even be used on your Golem to help it to chase fleeing enemies.

Ghost Scepter can be helpful if Warlock is constantly being focused down by the enemy's physical right-clickers. Using Ghost Scepter's active can shield Warlock from physical damage for some seconds, allowing him to cast his spells as needed.

Vladmir's Offering is a useful mid-game utility item that provides a strong teamfight aura. The aura gives Warlock and his allies additional armor and passive HP regen, as well as increased damage and lifesteal. These bonuses benefit the Golem as well, increasing its survivability to get more use out of your ultimate.

Aether Lens, built up from the Energy Booster component of Arcane Boots, greatly improves Warlock's ability to get off his spells in teamfights. The cast range increase further augments his already formidably long cast ranges, allowing him to cast his spells from complete safety behind his team, where the enemy will be unable to catch him.

Shadow Amulet can be useful to purchase if you intend on casting Upheaval frequently. As Warlock often has to channel the spell for at least a few seconds for it to reach full potency, hiding yourself from basic sight can increase your safety and keep the enemy guessing on your location, as the spell's cast range allows you to employ the spell from a fairly safe distance and an angle of your choosing.

Upgrading Shadow Amulet into a Glimmer Cape can give Warlock more utility at the cost of less effective cover while channeling Upheaval. As Warlock can channel Upheaval for up to 16 seconds, purchasing a Glimmer Cape prevents him from remaining invisible for the entire duration as it only lasts for 5 seconds. However, it provides utility in that it can be cast on allies to help them initiate, or protect an ally from magic nukes for a short period of time. It can also be cast on your Golem to increase its survivability against any magic nukes the enemy may use to try to kill it.

Eul's Scepter of Divinity is a useful utility caster item that is also cheap to build. It improves Warlock's mobility via increased movement speed, allowing him to more easily position to cast his spells, and provides intelligence and mana regen to improve his ability to cast his spells. The active can give him a hard-disable to use against enemies, or can be used on himself to provide temporary invulnerability while removing debuffs (such as silences that are preventing him from casting his spells).

Rod of Atos is a strong item to purchase on Warlock. The increased health pool gives him more survivability, while the increased intelligence gives him additional base damage and a larger mana pool to work with. The active synergizes with his ability to cast his spells at extremely long range, slowing enemies from long distances and making them easy prey for his Golem or pinning them down for Upheaval.

Lotus Orb is a strong utility item that allows Warlock to use the enemies' targeted spells against them. The item provides HP and mana regen as well as armor, giving Warlock more survivability and keeping his HP and mana topped up. The active can be cast on Warlock himself or one of his team's carries, discouraging the enemy from using their targeted nukes and disables. It can also be cast on his Golem, but it does not reflect spells.

In the endless pursuit of rare texts, Demnok Lannik found it necessary to learn the magicks that would help him reach the most inaccessible tomes. In short time, his obsessive study made him the most powerful Warlock in the academy. He whispers a versatile Shadow Word to heal fellow adventurers, or damage hostile creatures. Fatal Bonds link his enemies together, forcing each to suffer a share of the others' pains. Demnok Lannik brings a Chaotic Offering to every fight. Mired in a dimensional Upheaval, not even an army can hold out long against the Warlock's flaming Golem.

In DotA, Warlock's ultimate is named Rain of Chaos and the summoned unit was called an Infernal, a hulking golem with green-colored flames. Both names were changed in the transition to Dota 2 to avoid copyright conflicts.

Warlock is related to Disruptor and Axe, as he comes from the Oglodi tribe.

Warlock's response Play "Just for that, I'm unfiending you." when killed is probably a play on "Unfriending you" an action in the popular social network Facebook where a person removes another from their friend list.

The response Play "Bloodied but unbowed" when respawning is a reference to William Ernest Henley's poem "Invictus".[1]

Fatal Bonds' sound effect is based on this Play otherwise unused voice line.

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